GTA Brews Members: You must login to see the link and password. If you have logged in and cannot see them, please refresh the page.
This month we have Nina Houts from Imperial Yeast to talk to us about yeast propagation, yeast handling best practices, a virtual tour and more!
As with any conference call, please mute your microphone if you aren’t speaking, this really helps cut down on background noise. During Q&A segments we will make use of the “Raise Hand” feature.
Yet again our annual Canadian Homebrew Day (CHD) tradition of running Learn2Brew has been cancelled due to COVID-19. But CHD is about much more than just running L2B, and COVID-19 sure won’t stop us! CHD is an opportunity to take a moment out of what has been a hectic 12+ months for all of us an enjoy our hobby and craft. Similar to last year, we’ve organized a virtual brewing session on Zoom:
Join On Zoom (link) Password: gtabrews Date: Saturday June 5th, 2021 Time: 10:30 AM – 3:00 PM
If you’re free, get a brew going and join us on Zoom to talk all things brewing and some regular old banter. If you’re looking for something to brew, there are a few official Canadian Homebrew Day recipes from our friends at the Canadian Homebrewers Association:
David Chang-Sang, Eric Cousineau, and Colin Green will be hosting the virtual brew session:
David will be brewing the Tropical Stout
Eric will be brewing the Kolsch
Colin will be brewing a Triple IPA and partigyle’d Session IPA
If you are indeed brewing that day, please take some pictures and share it with our community and beyond by tagging GTA Brews and #CanadianHomebrewDay in your posts!
GTA Brews Members: You must login to see the link and password. If you have logged in and cannot see them, please refresh the page.
This month we have not one but two presenters! Both Mary Beth Keefe and Tim Burnett from The Granite Brewery & Tied House will join us to talk a bit about open fermentation using Ringwood yeast culture! Join us to hear Mary Beth and Tim discuss a bit about The Granite’s history and why their open fermentation method is quite unique!
As with any conference call, please mute your microphone if you aren’t speaking, this really helps cut down on background noise. During Q&A segments we will make use of the “Raise Hand” feature.
GTA Brews Members: You must login to see the link and password. If you have logged in and cannot see them, please refresh the page.
This month we have our own GTA Brews member Matt King joining us, to talk about mead! Join us to hear Matt talk about the different types of mead, what the process looks like, how the fermentation differs from beer, some of his recipes, and more!
As with any conference call, please mute your microphone if you aren’t speaking, this really helps cut down on background noise. During Q&A segments we will make use of the “Raise Hand” feature.
GTA Brews Members: You must login to see the link and password. If you have logged in and cannot see them, please refresh the page.
This month we have renowned beer author and Certified Cicerone/BJCP Jordan St. John joining us, to talk about collaborating with local breweries to re-create historical beer styles! Jordan wears many hats in the Toronto beer scene and we are thrilled to have him join us.
As with any conference call, please mute your microphone if you aren’t speaking, this really helps cut down on background noise. During Q&A segments we will make use of the “Raise Hand” feature.
GTA Brews Members: You must login to see the link and password. If you have logged in and cannot see them, please refresh the page.
This month, we have famous homebrew author John Palmer sharing his knowledge about Brewing Water, followed by a Q&A session! This time last year John joined us as a special guest at Brew Slam, and we are very excited to have him back.
For this meeting we will open up attendance to both members and non-members. Members will have first rights to join using the link above between 7:30 – 8:00 PM. At 8:00 PM we will share the public link on our social media to welcome in non-members (up to 100 people total).
As with any conference call, please mute your microphone if you aren’t speaking, this really helps cut down on background noise. During Q&A segments we will make use of the “Raise Hand” feature.
GTA Brews Members: You must login to see the link and password. If you have logged in and cannot see them, please refresh the page.
This month, we have our very own Marcelo Paniza sharing his knowledge with a presentation on making Hard Seltzer! This alcoholic beverage is seeing a surge of popularity right now, and homebrewers can make their very own using equipment you already have! Marcelo will show you how, and why, to homebrew them while sharing his best tips.
As with any conference call, please mute your microphone if you aren’t speaking, this really helps cut down on background noise. During Q&A segments we will make use of the “Raise Hand” feature.
Exchange Date: Sat. November 28th, 2020Exchange Location(s): James' House (Riverdale)Participation Fee: $10
The Annual GTA Brews Advent Calendar is back for the 7th year in a row! On Saturday ...
This content is only available for GTA Brews Members. Please visit our membership page to join today! If you are already a member, don't forget to Log In!
GTA Brews Members: You must login to see the link and password. If you have logged in and cannot see them, please refresh the page.
This month, we have our very own Luke Van Oort sharing his knowledge with a presentation on Raw Ale! This is a technique inspired by historical brewing processes that has the potential to shave hours off your brewday by skipping the boil!
As with any conference call, please mute your microphone if you aren’t speaking, this really helps cut down on background noise. During Q&A segments we will make use of the “Raise Hand” feature.
GTA Brews Members: You must login to see the link and password. If you have logged in and cannot see them, please refresh the page.
Please note the one off deviation in date this month.
This month, we have our very own David Chang-Sang sharing his knowledge with a presentation on Pressure Fermenting. If you’ve been looking for an easier way to brew tasty lager-ish beers, this is the presentation for you!
As with any conference call, please mute your microphone if you aren’t speaking, this really helps cut down on background noise. During Q&A segments we will make use of the “Raise Hand” feature.
GTA Brews Members: You must login to see the link and password. If you have logged in and cannot see them, please refresh the page.
This month, we have two very special guests joining us all the way from California and Oregon! We’re very excited to have our favourite podcast hosts and authors, Denny Conn and Drew Beechum!
As with any conference call, please mute your microphone if you aren’t speaking, this really helps cut down on background noise. During Q&A segments we will make use of the “Raise Hand” feature.
Due to COVID-19, our annual Canadian Homebrew Day tradition of running Learn2Brew has been cancelled. We still wanted to celebrate Canadian Homebrew Day, so we’re excited to announce we’ve organized a virtual group brew session on Zoom!
Join On Zoom (link) Password: GTA_Brews Date: Sunday June 7th, 2020 Time: 10:00 AM – 3:00 PM
Note: This will take the place of our June club meeting
Hosts: David Chang-Sang and Eric Cousineau will be hosting the virtual brew session
David will be brewing a Munich Dunkel
Eric will be catching up on bottling some mead and kegging some beers
We were pleased to see lots of interest when we shared the plan on our Facebook Discussion Group a few days ago. We’re expecting at least 5 others to join the virtual brew session while brewing, so this will be a sort of virtual Learn2Brew!
Monday May 11th at 7:30 PM ZOOM Meeting (Online) – Link Below
Building on the success of our first online meeting in April, we are back in May to conduct the monthly meeting over Zoom.
We are still new to hosting virtual homebrew club meetings, so please have patience with any technical issues that arise. As with any conference call, please mute your microphone if you aren’t speaking, this really helps cut down on background noise.
Monday April 20th at 7:30 PM ZOOM Meeting (Online)
Due to the COVID-19 virus, we will be conducting this month’s meeting virtually over Zoom. We are thankful that we are still able to provide a strong educational component in the form of this month’s presentation.
This is our first time hosting a virtual homebrew club meeting, so please have patience with any technical issues that arise. As with any conference call, please mute your microphone if you aren’t speaking, this really helps cut down on background noise.
Monday February 10th at 7:00 PM Muddy York Brewing Co.
22 Cranfield Road, Toronto, Ontario, M4B 3H1 MAP
This month we have four exciting meeting elements!
Homebrew Bottle Swap
Structured Tasting *New Format*
Style of the Month:IPA
Presented by: Emily Storey
IPA Recipe Formulation with Mike Vandervoort
Come with questions!
We are going back to our gracious host, Muddy York Brewing Co! We request that everyone spend some money to support our wonderful host. Don’t forget to buy some bottles from their shop!
Monday February 10th at 7:00 PM Northern Maverick Brewing Co.
115 Bathurst St, Toronto, ON, M5V 2P9 MAP
This month we have two exciting meeting elements!
Presentation: Brewing by the Numbers by Emily Storey
Analyzing the statistics of Brew Slam Homebrew Competition. Ever wonder which categories you are most likely to medal in? Find out Monday!
Structured Tasting & Mingle!
This February we are going back to our gracious host, Northern Maverick Brewing Co.. Thanks for hosting us! We request that everyone spend some money to support our wonderful host. Their food is fantastic (try the Jamaican patties), and they have plenty of beer-to-go in their bottle shop!
Monday January 13th at 7:00 PM Muddy York Brewing Co. 22 Cranfield Road, Toronto, Ontario, M4B 3H1 MAP
This month we have five exciting meeting elements!
Presentation: Brewing Water Chemistry by Eric Cousineau
Special Guest: Q&A with Lizanne Pharand (P.Eng.) from Toronto Water
Style of the Month:Bock
Presented by: Emily Storey
Homebrew Bottle Swap
Structured Tasting *New Format*
We are going back to our gracious host, Muddy York Brewing Co! We request that everyone spend some money to support our wonderful host. Don’t forget to buy some bottles from their shop!
Monday December 9th at 7:00 PM People’s Pint Brewing Company
90 Cawthra Ave, Unit #101, Toronto, Ontario, M6N 3C2 MAP
This month come hang out, swap homebrews, and mingle!
This December we are being hosted by People’s Pint Brewing Company. Thanks for hosting us! We request that everyone spend some money to support our wonderful host. They have plenty of beer-to-go in their bottle shop!
We are going back to our gracious host, Muddy York Brewing Co! We request that everyone spend some money to support our wonderful host. Don’t forget to buy some bottles from their shop!
Monday October 22nd at 7:00 PM Northern Maverick Brewing Co.
115 Bathurst St, Toronto, ON, M5V 2P9 MAP
This month we have two exciting meeting elements!
Presentation: Finishing Beer: Everything After Fermentation to Make Great Beer
Structured Tasting
This October we are going back to our gracious host, Northern Maverick Brewing Co.. Thanks for hosting us! We request that everyone spend some money to support our wonderful host. Their food is fantastic (try the Jamaican patties), and they have plenty of beer-to-go in their bottle shop!
Exchange Date: Monday, Nov 25th, 2018Exchange Location(s):Muddy York Brewing Co. (at the monthly meeting)Participation Fee: $10
The Annual GTA Brews Advent Calendar is back for the 6th year ...
This content is only available for GTA Brews Members. Please visit our membership page to join today! If you are already a member, don't forget to Log In!
We are going back to our gracious host, Muddy York Brewing Co! We request that everyone spend some money to support our wonderful host. Don’t forget to buy some bottles from their shop!
Inquiries about Brew Slam 2019 should be sent to: comp@gtabrews.ca
GTA Brews is excited to announce our fifth annual, nation-wide, homebrew competition for beer, mead, and cider; Brew Slam 2019 (#BrewSlam)! We are excited to build on last year’s massive success which saw 826 entries, from 191 entrants, in 8/10 provinces, judged by 75 judges, over just 3 days, making this the largest homebrew competition in Canada! We are ecstatic to have John Palmer attending as our guest of honour (Nov 8-10) to help ring in our 5th year!
Monday August 12th at 7:00 PM Northern Maverick Brewing Co.
115 Bathurst St, Toronto, ON, M5V 2P9 MAP
This month we have two exciting meeting elements!
Presentation: BOTY Winner Panel and Q&A
Panelists: Chris Hughes, Darrell Kelly, Matt King, Mark Hubbard, Andrew McCready, Nick Hodowsky, Iain Robertson
Panel Moderator: Eric Cousineau
Structured Tasting
This June we are going back to our gracious host, Northern Maverick Brewing Co.. Thanks for hosting us! We request that everyone spend some money to support our wonderful host. Their food is fantastic (try the Jamaican patties), and they have plenty of beer-to-go in their bottle shop!
Our annual general survey is now accepting submissions! We use the results of this survey each year to help inform the direction of the club and identify areas of strength and opportunities to improve. The survey will remain open until 11:59 PM on August 30th!
Update: Survey deadline extended until 11:59 PM on Thu Sept 12th!
This survey is open to both members and non-members, since we want to hear from everybody! The survey takes as little as 5-10 mins if you elect to answer only the mandatory questions, or a little longer if you choose to write more detailed answers (and we hope you do).
How can we make the best homebrew club in the world even better?!
Participants are eligible for a drawing of gift cards to Brew North andToronto Brewing! Thanks to our local homebrew stores for donating these prizes to help encourage participation, please support them with your patronage!
This club belongs to all of us, and we want to make sure are all satisfied with the value you get for your membership. There will always be some challenges, but we are always looking for solutions and opportunities to improve. Please share your thoughts in as much detail as you are comfortable with, and we promise to read and seriously consider them.
Monday July 8th at 7:00 PM Muddy York Brewing Co.
22 Cranfield Road, Toronto, Ontario, M4B 3H1 MAP
This month we have four exciting meeting elements!
Presentation: Brewing by the Numbers by Emily Storey
A presentation breaking down entry statistics from Brew Slam 2018
Guest: Kathy Yan Li will discuss the new Canadian Homebrewers Association
Structured Tasting
Bottle Swap
We are going back to our gracious host, Muddy York Brewing Co! We request that everyone spend some money to support our wonderful host. Don’t forget to buy some bottles from their shop!
This June we are going back to our gracious host, Northern Maverick Brewing Co.. Thanks for hosting us! This month we have a special GTA Brews Menu that will be available to our members! We request that everyone spend some money to support our wonderful host. Their food is fantastic (try the Jamaican patties), and they have plenty of beer-to-go in their bottle shop!
We are going back to our gracious host, Muddy York Brewing Co! We request that everyone spend some money to support our wonderful host. Don’t forget to buy some bottles from their shop!
Monday April 8th at 7:00 PM Northern Maverick Brewing Co.
115 Bathurst St, Toronto, ON, M5V 2P9 MAP
This month we have three exciting meeting elements!
Presentation: Pro Brewer – Matti Cowan of Silly Sir Brewing Co. presents: Brewing with Spice and Fruit!
Eric Cousineau presents: Intro to BJCP Certification
Structured Tasting
This April we are going back to our gracious host, Northern Maverick Brewing Co.. Thanks for hosting us! This month the “Hoppy Hour” Snack Menu will be available to our members! We request that everyone spend some money to support our wonderful host. Their food is fantastic (try the Jamaican patties), and they have plenty of beer-to-go in their bottle shop!
Click Here to go to the main competition page and register!
Our popular seasonal homebrew competition is back for 2019! As usual, we will be accepting all styles of beer, mead, and cider. Since this is our small competition, entry will be restricted to GTA Brews members only.
This seasonal competition is designed to be a “low stakes” introduction to BJCP competitions for club members to enter their beers for feedback and fun. The focus is on providing excellent feedback, so we keep the entry cap and fee low. Our hope is that lots of first-time entrants will find themselves on the winners list and be motivated to continue entering competitions. This competition will be judged by BJCP Judges according to the 2015 BJCP Guidelines.
We are going back to our gracious host, Muddy York Brewing Co! We request that everyone spend some money to support our wonderful host. Don’t forget to buy some bottles from their shop!
Time to announce the sign up for out 4th barrel fill! The barrel will stay in its current home at Peoples Pint Brewing Co.
We will be filling the barrel with a Flanders-style Red. Want in on this fun members-only project? Log in, then click the link below and apply for the barrel. We will randomly pick applicants to participate in the barrel fill.
This content is only available for GTA Brews Members. Please visit our membership page to join today!
If you are already a member, don't forget to Log In!
This February we are going back to our gracious host, Northern Maverick Brewing Co.. Thanks for hosting us! We request that everyone spend some money to support our wonderful host. Their food is fantastic (try the Jamaican patties), and they have plenty of beer-to-go in their bottle shop!
Company Update: Richard and Nate of Escarpment Labs
Bi-Monthly Homebrew Bottle Swap
We are going back to our gracious host, Muddy York Brewing Co! We request that everyone spend some money to support our wonderful host. Don’t forget to buy some bottles from their shop!
Monday December 10th at 7:00 PM People’s Pint Brewing Company
90 Cawthra Ave, Unit #101, Toronto, Ontario, M6N 3C2 MAP
This month come hang out, swap homebrews, and mingle!
This December we are being hosted by People’s Pint Brewing Company. Thanks for hosting us! We request that everyone spend some money to support our wonderful host. They have plenty of beer-to-go in their bottle shop!
2018 Advent Calendar: The bottle exchange is happening this meeting! Bring your 30 brews to swap or send a mule – We don’t want any missing dates!
We are going back to our gracious host, Muddy York Brewing Co! We request that everyone spend some money to support our wonderful host. Don’t forget to buy some bottles from their shop!
This October we are going back to our gracious host, Northern Maverick Brewing Co.. Thanks for hosting us! We request that everyone spend some money to support our wonderful host. Their food is fantastic (try the Jamaican patties), and they have plenty of beer-to-go in their bottle shop!
The 5th Annual GTA Brews Advent Calendar is just days away! 24 brewers will swap 24 beers at 7pm on Monday, November 26th at Muddy York. If you’re just hearing about it now, you missed the boat! K...
This content is only available for GTA Brews Members. Please visit our membership page to join today!
If you are already a member, don't forget to Log In!
Entry registration is now open, and spots are already filling up quickly! Visit the Brew Slam 2018 page to learn more, and register your entries.
Entry Registration and Drop Off
Registration will close on Nov 3rd, or when the 850 entry cap is hit. Entries will be accepted at drop off and shipping locations beginning on Oct 11th. If you need to drop off earlier for any reason, please email us.
If the cap is hit, the site won’t allow any more entries to be registered. In this case we will do our best to follow up on unpaid entries, and verify if the entrants still need the spot(s).
Please do everyone (especially our Registrar) a favour, and only register entries you actually plan to submit, then pay for them right away. We will provide regular entry registration updates on social media.
Volunteering
Brew Slam is a volunteer driven competition, so please consider donating a bit of your time to help this competition happen. The Brew Slam 2018 comittee has been hard at work for months laying the groundwork for another fantastic year, please help us out by registering as a volunteer.
We need help with Bottle Sorting (Nov 4th), and Stewarding/Judging (Nov 9-11th), learn more on our Brew Slam Volunteer page. If you have a friend that is a BJCP judge, please encourage them to attend!
Monthly Swap: Bottle Exchange – No sign-up required! Just bring a 6 pack of your finest brews and you’ll receive a randomized 6-pack to take home! Please try to include your name, beer name and style on the label/sticker.
We are going back to our gracious host, Muddy York Brewing Co! We request that everyone spend some money to support our wonderful host. Don’t forget to buy some bottles from their shop!
Our annual general survey is now accepting submissions! We use the results of this survey each year to help inform the direction of the club and identify areas of strength and opportunities to improve. The survey will remain open until 11:59 PM on August 22ndSept 11th.
This survey is open to both members and non-members, since we want to hear from everybody! The survey can take as little as 5-10 mins to answer only the mandatory questions, or longer if you elect to write more detailed answers (and we hope you do).
How can we make the best homebrew club in the world even better?!
This August we are going back to our gracious host, Northern Maverick Brewing Co.. Thanks for hosting us! We request that everyone spend some money to support our wonderful host. Their food is fantastic (try the Jamaican patties), and they have plenty of beer-to-go in their bottle shop!
HomebrewCon is wrapped up for another year, and this year marked our best year ever for club attendance! In attendance we had: Zack, Eric, Rebecca, Matti, Sara, Jesse, Sasha, Jim, Laila, Kathy, Victor, and Fred!
We are going back to our gracious host, Muddy York Brewing Co! We request that everyone spend some money to support our wonderful host. Don’t forget to buy some bottles from their shop!
Click Here to go to the main competition page and register!
The sixth competition in this small competition series will take place in May, and since we skipped Winter Warmer, we will be accepting all styles of beer, mead, and cider!
These seasonal competitions are designed to be a “low stakes” introduction to BJCP competitions for club members (and anyone else) to enter their beers for feedback and fun. This competition will be judged by BJCP Judges according to the 2015 BJCP Guidelines.
Time to announce the sign up for out 3rd barrel fill! This time the barrel is being hosted at Peoples Pint Brewing Co.
We will be filling the barrel with a golden sour. Want in on this fun members-only project? Log in, then click the link below and apply for the barrel. We will randomly pick applicants to participate in the barrel fill.
This content is only available for GTA Brews Members. Please visit our membership page to join today!
If you are already a member, don't forget to Log In!
Brew Slam 2017 is finally wrapped up after almost a whole year of planning, and a ton of execution. What a year! The last of the prizes made their way into the hands of our winners this week, so it’s finally time to write my annual wrap up post. With 806 entries judged, I’m very proud to say that we met and exceeded our goal for 2017 of becoming Canada’s largest homebrew competition (by almost 300 entries)!
Saturday morning judging
The judging and awards for Brew Slam 2017 happened back in November, but we’ve been hard at work since then making sure that everyone got their prizes as fast as we could. Don’t stop reading now because some pretty amazing things happened this year that I want to share. Continue reading Brew Slam 2017 – Wrap Up→
